7 Best Sights in The North Woods, Maine

A gift from Governor Percival Baxter, this is the jewel in the crown of northern Maine: a nearly 210,000-acre wilderness area that surrounds Mt. Katahdin, Maine's highest mountain and the terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Every year, 5,267-foot Katahdin draws thousands of hikers to make the challenging daylong summit, rewarding them with stunning views of forests, mountains, and lakes; if you're not an expert hiker, skip the hair-raising Knife Edge Trail. There are three parking-lot trailheads for Katahdin. The crowds climbing Katahdin can be formidable on clear summer days and fall weekends (factor in lessening daylight as hikes typically take 8–12 hours). So if it's solitude you crave, head for one of the many other park mountains accessible from the extensive trail network, including 11 peaks exceeding an elevation of 3,000 feet. The Brothers and Doubletop Mountain are challenging daylong hikes; the Owl takes about six hours; and South Turner can be climbed in a morning—its summit has a great view across the park's u-shaped valley. A trek around Daicey Pond, or from the pond to Big and Little Niagara Falls, are good options for families with young kids. Another option if you only have a couple hours is renting a canoe at Daicey or Togue Pond; canoes are available at all pondside campgrounds and many backcountry ponds, including some of the most remote (bring cash for the $1 per hour honor system). Biking is allowed on some park roads. Fishing is big here; hunting is mostly limited to Baxter's northwest corner. Check the website or Facebook page for activities like ranger-led walks and family programs. Camping is primitive and reservations are required; there are 10 campgrounds plus backcountry campsites. Roads are unpaved, narrow, winding, and not plowed in winter, though the adventurous visit "at your own risk" to snowshoe, ski, snowmobile (Tote Road only), fat-tire bike, ice climb, and winter camp. Baxter doesn't have gas stations or stores; cell phone service is unreliable; and dogs are not allowed.

 Reserve a Katahdin day-use parking space ($5) at the trailheads June 1–October 15. The park has a visitor center at its southern entrance, but you can get information and make parking and camping reservations at park headquarters in Millinocket (64 Balsam Drive). 

A mile from downtown Greenville, the 1890s Victorian Eveleth-Crafts-Sheridan Historical House has changed little since the last resident of a prominent Greenville family lived here, though renovations to some rooms over the decades prior reveal evolving 20th-century lifestyle trends, adding interest to the delightfully guided tours. Each year there’s a new changing exhibit within the period rooms. The original kitchen, state of the art back in the day, is a highlight; cooks will also savor the collection of old utensils and kitchen items in a basement gallery. Rare South American oak furniture and wainscoting match in the dining room. You can even check out the attic. In the carriage house, Moosehead Lumbermen's Museum showcases the region's storied logging history. A highlight is the 30-foot bateau used on log drives until the 1960s. Tools of the trade are displayed, from axes and saws to Peavys, a pole with a hook used to move logs downriver. In the barn are exhibits on outdoor subjects like Maine Warden Service flight rescues and wildlife—check out the bobcat, moose, and caribou mounts. On the large grounds, a sunken garden invites.

At East Cove in downtown Greenville, the 1904 "Community House," as this former church is known, is one of two Moosehead Historical Society museum locales. Some displays on local history and culture are in the auditorium, with original wood trim, wainscoting, and floor and stained glass atop the arched windows. The Native American exhibit showcases artifacts and items dating from 9,000 BC and shares the stories of residents such as Henry Perley (1885–1972), a guide and author who gained fame as a performer in Wild West shows and movies. Another exhibit reveals the impact of aviation—from early bush pilots to Greenville's annual International Seaplane Fly-In the weekend after Labor Day—in this remote region. Many visitors come for the display on the Air Force B-52 plane crash that killed seven of nine crew members in 1963. You can get information about the short hike to the debris-littered crash site, now a memorial, north of town. Outside the museum, sculptures honor Henry David Thoreau and his Penobscot guides, Chief Joseph Attean and Joseph Polis, who departed with him from Greenville for Maine's wilds. There are also changing exhibits.

Nine miles northeast of Greenville on Moosehead Lake, this 925-acre park has good lakefront swimming, a 2-mile walking trail with water views, two boat-launching ramps, a playground, and two campgrounds with a total of 90 sites. In winter, the entrance road is plowed to access the groomed cross-country ski trails and the lake for ice fishing and snowmobiling.

Accessible primarily by steamship, Kineo House was a thriving upscale summer resort below its hulking namesake: 700-foot cliffs on an islandlike 1,150-acre peninsula jutting into Moosehead Lake. The last of three successive hotels with this name was built here in 1884 and became America's largest inland waterfront hotel. It was torn down in 1938, but Kineo remains an outstanding day trip. Now part of Mount Kineo State Park, summit trails lead to a fire tower that rewards with a 360-degree sweep of Maine's largest lake and rugged mountains near and far. Hikers scramble on the challenging Indian Trail (about a mile), but it has amazing views, and you can descend on the easy 1.1-mile Bridle Trail through the woods. All hikes begin on the 2.2-mile Carriage Trail, a flat, shore-hugging remnant of the halcyon hotel days and part of the 6.1-mile trail network. There's no road access, but from Rockwood Town Landing you can hop 9-hole Mount Kineo Golf Course's boat shuttle (fee), which has the same operating season as the course (closed mid-Oct.–late May). One of New England's oldest courses (not part of the park), it’s surrounded by historic summer "cottages." The small clubhouse has a snack bar and welcomes hikers.

Two reproduction 1800s logging camps are among the 10 buildings filled with exhibits depicting the history of logging in Maine. They include sawmill and towboat models, dioramas of logging scenes, horse-drawn sleds, and a steam-powered log hauler. Exhibits highlight local artists and history as well as logging-related topics. The fundraising annual Bean Hole Bean Dinner on the second Saturday of August is a traditional Maine feast. Beans are baked in the ground overnight, just like they were in lumbering camps—you can stop by the day before to watch the cooks in action. The event also has activities like wagon rides, music, and crafters.

A New York philanthropist was so taken with the Mt. Katahdin region he spurred creation of 16 miles of free public recreation trails along the East Branch of the Penobscot River, conveniently off Route 11. Opened in 2019, the "crusher dust" paths are akin to the famed carriage trails at coastal Maine's Acadia National Park. Used for mountain biking (Class 1 e-bikes are allowed) and hiking, they're groomed for cross-country skiing after the snow flies. Folks also fat-tire bike (Tote Road only) and snowshoe here. You can chill after a workout or eat your lunch in the woodsy chic visitor center. Come winter, wood stoves heat up two warming huts with Katahdin views. Courtesy (donation requested) bikes, snowshoes, and cross-country skis are available, as are strollers. Paddlers head to the hand-carry boat launch. About 40 miles north of here above Shin Pond, the organization's 7.2-mile hiking and snowshoeing Seboeis Riverside Trail leads to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument and includes a small campground and snowshoe lodge with a woodstove and cots for overnight stays (one night only).